Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers

R

Washington – District 5


representative

Leadership

Republican Leader

117th Congress

Chair

118th Congress

News & Announcements

Nov 6, 2024
Press Release

Chair Rodgers to Federal Agencies: No More Partisan Work

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) today sent letters to five independent federal agencies urging the Biden-Harris administration appointees to abandon partisan efforts and instead focus remaining efforts on bipartisan, consensus items.   The letters state, “The results of the 2024 presidential election are now apparent and leadership of the [agency] will soon change. As a traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power, the [agency] should immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial item under consideration, consistent with applicable law and regulation.”    Click below to read each agency’s letter:   Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Federal Communications Commission (FCC)   Federal Trade Commission (FTC)   Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)   Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Note: In the letter, Chair Rodgers urges NRC to continue timely implementation of the ADVANCE Act. 

Nov 4, 2024
Press Release

E&C Republican Staff Report Details Cronyism within Biden-Harris EPA’s Multibillion-Dollar Environmental Justice Grant Programs

Washington, D.C. — In a newly released staff report , House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans detail how the Biden-Harris Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the process of spending nearly three billion taxpayer dollars on so-called “environmental justice” (EJ) grants. The report uncovers how EJ grants were given to radical environmental activist groups that attempt to exert political influence, engage in progressive election activities, and are backed by billionaires. Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), and Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Chair Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) issued the following statement: "It couldn’t be more clear: The Biden-Harris administration rewards its environmental special interests at the expense of the American people. As part of its radical rush-to-green agenda, the administration gave hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to activists who also engage in political activities. It was empowered to do so by congressional Democrats who jammed through legislation that was designed to rush money out the door as quickly as possible with no guards against waste, fraud, and abuse. Equally as alarming is how these policies benefit the Chinese Communist Party—the world’s worst polluter." BACKGROUND : Passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Biden in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) more than quadrupled the EPA’s budget. Included in that deluge of spending was nearly three billion dollars in EJ grants to be administrated through a variety of programs. One program relies upon a “pass-through” model, which hands $600 million taxpayer dollars out to 11 “grant makers” to then dole out to additional recipients—a process that lacks serious oversight protections. The report exposes how the Biden-Harris EPA funneled public funding to groups that exert political influence, engage in election activities, express anti-Republican sentiment, espouse radical progressive ideologies, and already receive significant funding from wealthy donors.  KEY REPORT EXCERPTS :  Simply put, the EPA is awarding taxpayer dollars to special interest groups committed to a radical energy agenda to “educate” others and drive public outreach, as well as assist those it engages with to influence government policymaking and outcomes. One might consider it akin to a taxpayer-funded lobbying operation. Given these organizations’ existing efforts to sway public opinion, they may use these awards to attempt to indoctrinate members of the communities in which they conduct outreach. [...] Under its EJTCTAC Program, the EPA awarded $10,000,000 to West Harlem Environmental Action, Incorporated (WE ACT) to operate a technical assistance center, the WE ACT Technical Assistance Collaborative. WE ACT lists “[f]ighting [l]iquified [n]atural [g]as and [f]alse [s]olution [i]nfrastructure” among its 2024 policy priorities. It has called on federal agencies to halt new or expanded liquified natural gas operations and vows to continue this “advocacy campaign.” Notably, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a pause on exports of liquified natural gas in January 2024. [...] Some selectees and partners appear to have clear political bias. The Climate Justice Alliance, selected to be a National Grantmaker under the EJTCGM Program issued a press release implying congressional Republicans deserved blame for a potential government shutdown in 2023. EJTCTAC Program selectee WE ACT posted a blog criticizing “Republican gas stove culture wars,” and House GOP Members’ “performative, out-of-touch agenda.” The New York Immigration Coalition, an EJTCGM Program partner, accused the Trump administration of preventing people from voting. Another partner, the Wyoming Outdoor Council, attacked the Trump administration’s “environmental rollbacks” and stated it would “successfully defend the good rules and regulations put in place by the prior administration.” Healthy Gulf urged on its website, “we must ensure that the federal government reinstates common sense, safety, and environmental oversights that the Trump administration rolled back.” CLICK HERE to read the full report. 

Oct 24, 2024
Press Release

E&C Republicans Call for Transparency in Taxpayer-Funded Clinical Trial Results

Washington, D.C. — Republican Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee issued the following statements regarding a report that results from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research project are being withheld from the public due to political motives. “This is a clear example of the politicization of science at the expense of children. Research funded by taxpayer dollars through the NIH should be publicly disclosed regardless of the results, and Americans deserve access to the truth,” said Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) . “For a scientist to withhold findings deliberately because the findings don’t substantiate a preferred outcome further erodes public trust in the NIH and its programs. Our Committee will be launching an investigation into the matter.”  “These recent revelations are a great example of why Congress and the American people are demanding more transparency and accountability from the U.S. public health community,” said Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) . “Not publishing the results of taxpayer-funded research in fear of political blowback not only further erodes trust in our public health institutions, but also fundamentally undermines the very nature of scientific research. Most importantly, failing to publish these results to protect one’s own political agenda puts vulnerable children at risk of serious self-harm. I call on the NIH to immediately suspend funding of this study and to immediately publish the study’s results for the American people to see for themselves.” “Delaying the publication of clinical trial studies, funded in part by the federal government, for fear that its findings would be ‘weaponized’ by those who are opposed to invasive transgender procedures in juveniles is irresponsible and inappropriate,” said Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) . “The American people should be allowed to follow the science even when it leads to a conclusion that the scientist doing the study doesn’t like.” “Puberty blockers and sex-change operations harm children, period. It’s outrageous for taxpayer-funded research to be hidden from the public, especially when it is being suppressed by a transgender advocate simply because the findings don’t fit their political agenda,” said Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) . “This is a glaring example of why NIH must be reformed with measures like those initiated by Chair Rogers to ensure transparency, standards of objectivity, and the removal of conflicts of interest in federal taxpayer-funded scientific and medical research. The NIH must release the results of this taxpayer-funded study immediately.”  BACKGROUND : As reported in the New York Times , an NIH-funded researcher and vocal advocate for hormonal gender treatments on minors, who receives millions of dollars of taxpayer funding, is withholding the results of studies because they do not demonstrate clinical benefit of providing such treatments. The United States remains an outlier by providing hormonal-based therapies that delay puberty to minors for the purposes of gender transitioning, while many other developed nations are moving away from the practice. 

Letters

Nov 6, 2024
Press Release

Chair Rodgers to Federal Agencies: No More Partisan Work

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) today sent letters to five independent federal agencies urging the Biden-Harris administration appointees to abandon partisan efforts and instead focus remaining efforts on bipartisan, consensus items.   The letters state, “The results of the 2024 presidential election are now apparent and leadership of the [agency] will soon change. As a traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power, the [agency] should immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial item under consideration, consistent with applicable law and regulation.”    Click below to read each agency’s letter:   Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Federal Communications Commission (FCC)   Federal Trade Commission (FTC)   Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)   Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Note: In the letter, Chair Rodgers urges NRC to continue timely implementation of the ADVANCE Act. 

Oct 21, 2024
Press Release

Bipartisan E&C Leaders Call on GAO to Review the DOE Isotope Program’s Work to Reduce Reliance on Russia

More than a decade has lapsed since the GAO’s last review Washington, D.C. —  In a new letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), bipartisan Energy and Commerce Leaders are requesting that the GAO conduct an extensive review of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Isotope Program. Led by Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-NJ) as well as Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) and Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO), the letter addresses concerns regarding U.S. dependence on Russia for isotopes and other materials critical to American national security, advanced manufacturing, and medicine, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “The DOE Isotope Program has been working for at least a decade to shore up domestic isotope development and free the United States from a position of dependence, but its progress in doing so is unclear. Current U.S. production still has not replaced our reliance on Russia and possibly other high-risk countries, and several proposed DOE facilities conceived as major contributors to the U.S. domestic supply chain remain in the design phase or, at best, under construction (chief among these is Oak Ridge’s Stable Isotope Production and Research Center, or SIPRC, which is reportedly not expected to start production until 2032). These dynamics raise serious questions and concerns about the security of the U.S. supply chain for these critical isotopes.” BACKGROUND: The DOE’s Isotope Program produces and sells hundreds of high priority isotopes that are rare—but essential—for the production of important commodities in national security, advanced manufacturing, and medicine.  The DOE is often the only, or one of very few, global producers of such isotopes, which are in short supply or represent a supply chain risk. However, the United States still relies on obtaining several materials and commercially produced isotopes from other, sometimes adversarial countries, such as Russia.  The GAO last reviewed the DOE Isotope program in 2012 and has not conducted a review since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.  According to a 2022 testimony by the executive director of the Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals, the U.S. still relies nearly exclusively on Russia to obtain 44 isotopes that are critical in industrial applications and cancer treatment.  China has also emerged as a new global supplier of stable isotopes, positioning the U.S. for even further foreign reliance to keep Americans healthy and safe. CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Oct 8, 2024
Press Release

Bipartisan E&C Leaders Request FDA Briefing for More Details about Counterfeit Ozempic

Washington, D.C. — In a letter today to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D., a bipartisan group of House Energy and Commerce Committee Leaders requested a briefing about the presence of counterfeit Ozempic and other semaglutide products in the United States’ medical supply chain.  The letter was signed by Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ); Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Ranking Member Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA); and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-FL).   KEY LETTER QUOTE : “In addition to concerns about integrity gaps in the legitimate supply chain, we are also concerned about counterfeit Ozempic entering through illegal channels. For example, in June of this year, Eli Lilly issued an open letter expressing concern that counterfeit versions of its own drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, were being sold online, through social media and at medical spas. On May 1, 2024, a Department of Justice press release reported that work by FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations resulted in the arrest of an individual for selling misbranded and adulterated weight loss drugs on TikTok. The Committee fully supports these continued investigations of unlawful sales.”   BACKGROUND :   The FDA alerted the public on December 21, 2023, to the presence of counterfeit Ozempic injection products in the legitimate drug supply; an investigati ve article l ater found that thousands of counterfeit Ozempic pens had arrived in a warehouse in Elmira, New York, as early as the fall of 2023. The fact that counterfeit medications made it into the legitimate medical supply chain raises concern about potential gaps in our supply chain security infrastructure.    This threat continues to grow.   CLICK HERE to read the full letter.